THOSE FEELING UNWELL WERE SENT BELOW DECK TO ESCAPE THE WORST OF THE WEATHER
While shopping in the grocery store recently, I overheard an irate mother hiss, “Don’t make me read you the riot act!” at her three rambunctious children. How many times have we heard that phrase? My mother certainly threatened me with this idiom more than once, and I still cringe at the thought! As I recalled this phrase, I certainly knew its meaning but hadn’t a clue regarding its origin. Was there ever a Riot Act? Turns out there was! But before we delve into the details, let’s talk about idioms in general.
An idiom is a phrase common to a certain population, region, community or social class. Early colonists to America were primarily Anglican, so many of our most commonly used idioms come from the British Isles. Etymologists have delved back into centuries-old records, attempting to trace their idiomatic origins, but many have been lost in antiquity. For some, their intended meanings are as clear today as they were more than 400 years ago; others are obscure and their meanings speculative. As America expanded and other nations provided a flood of immigrants, they brought their own idioms with them. Let’s explore a few by returning to that frustrated mother’s threat.
1714 was a time of political unrest in Britain. Fearful of civil disobedience, Parliament passed the Riot Act in an attempt to prevent unruly assemblies. A gathering of a dozen or more individuals was considered a protest and thereby declared illegal. The assembly would be read a portion of the Riot Act, after which they were given one hour to either disperse or face imprisonment. It was a lengthy declaration, but its intent was clear. If the crowd failed to heed the reading, and worse yet became more unruly, the upholding officer was under no obligation to wait the full hour before calling for backup. Used often throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, similar acts became law in America, Canada and Australia. Formally repealed in Britain and Wales in 1967, some portions of the Riot Act remain today.
When feeling unwell, we often say we are feeling under the weather, an English nautical term meaning sickness onboard. Centuries ago, sailing the world’s oceans was often an arduous journey, with days of foul weather and rough seas leaving both passengers and crew soaked and seasick. Those feeling unwell were sent below deck to escape the worst of the weather, and where the ship’s sway and pitch was not so pronounced. The correct term is “under the weather bow,” the portion of the ship sheltered from the worst of the weather.
How often have we heard the phrase it’s raining cats and dogs? Despite being one of the more popular idioms, its origin is a tricky one. Scholars have suggested a number of sources, from Greek mythology to Old English expressions. The first recorded use was in 1651 in a collection of poems by Welsh poet Henry Vaughan. Associated with a heavy downpour, “cats and dogs” may have come from the Greek expression cata doxa, which means contrary to experience or out of the ordinary. The Old English word catadupe meant a cataract or waterfall, a fitting description for a heavy rainfall. In seventeenth-century London, it was thought that a heavy rain often swept the city’s many abandoned, dead and dying cats and dogs into the streets.
Caught red-handed is a centuries-old term implying one was caught doing something illegal and with blood on their hands. This was originally a Scottish term used to describe a murderer but later became synonymous with all crimes in which the evidence was non-refutable. Its origin likely stems from the illegal act of poaching wildlife for the dinner table. For centuries, only the crown and aristocracy were permitted to hunt deer in the royal forests and great estates. Should a farmer or commoner be caught with the blood of a stag on his hands, he would be arrested. The first mention of the idiom in print appeared in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe in 1819: “I did but tie one fellow, who was taken redhanded and in the fact, to the horns of a wild stag.”
To go on a wild goose chase today implies a hopeless pursuit or foolish search for something that is pointless or unattainable, and that also wastes a great deal of time. The idiom was first penned by William Shakespeare in his play Romeo and Juliet. But the term was originally used to describe a type of horse race where a lead rider galloped across the open countryside, pursued by dozens of riders spread out across the course in an attempt to overtake the leader. The chase evoked an image of geese flying in V formation, following their leader.
Fruits and vegetables have often figured into idioms. Two peas in a pod describes two people very much alike, either in appearance or because both people enjoy doing the same interests. This expression goes back some 200 years or longer, when fruits and vegetables were often used as analogies to simplify or explain complex theories. In this case, the reference to peas inside a pea pod implied something identical in origin or nature. A fruit reference, apple of my eye, originally referred to the pupil of the human eye. In ancient times, the pupil was considered a pit or hard core within the eye, and any damage or disease of the eye often deprived one of sight. Therefore, that portion of the eye was considered to be quite precious. Later, this idiom came to mean something that was treasured above all others. As English idioms go, it is about as old as they get, appearing in print in the writings of King Alfred back in the ninth century. It appears often in both the King James Bible and Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Mad as a hatter is a colloquial English term meaning a person is quite odd and likely insane. The Mad Hatter was a popular figure in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. By the time this book was written, scientists had yet to understand the effects of mercury poisoning on the human body. In eighteenth and nineteenth century England, mercury was used in the production of felt, used in the manufacturing of hats. Mercury poisoning caused a host of neurological symptoms, including slurred speech, tremors, stumbling and hallucinations. Hatmakers were often exposed to high levels of mercury, and this idiom went on to describe anyone with symptoms of mental illness as being mad.
The advocatus diaboli or devil’s advocate was an official position within the Roman Catholic Church. This individual was tasked with arguing against the canonization of a candidate in order to uncover any character flaws or misrepresentations of the evidence favoring sainthood. Today, it describes someone who debates a position they do not necessarily agree with, or who explores a thought further, using valid reasoning that both disagrees with the subject at hand and proves their own point. In simple terms, playing the devil’s advocate means arguing against something without actually believing the contrary view.
In the popular vernacular, buttering me up implies bestowing great flattery, but this idiom goes back much further. In 1600 BC in India, it was common practice to spread or toss small globs of clarified butter onto sculptures representing various deities during worship. This rich offering was intended to secure favors from them, such as good fortune, abundant crops, peace and health. In Tibet, sculptures were made out of dyed butter and put on display for all benevolent beings of heaven to see, a common practice at the time of the New Year celebrations.
Giving one the cold shoulder is one of those phrases that seems obvious. In the nineteenth century, a common explanation stems from serving a hot meal to welcomed visitors, and a cold shoulder of meat to an unwanted guest. In English society, this would be considered a faux pas and frowned upon, despite one’s personal feelings about a guest. In fact, the meaning is simple: to turn a cold shoulder means to turn one’s back or shoulder in disregard or contempt for another. It was often used by women to spurn the advances of an unwanted suitor, and the gown styles of the time often revealed a bare or naked shoulder, cool to the touch but disdainfully elusive.
So there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. We’ve hit the nail on the head by selecting a few of our favorites. It’s certainly not the whole ball of wax, as there are thousands of idioms. Think about your most common expressions, from turning a blind eye to biting the bullet. We could go on and on, but it’s time to stop beating around the bush. The proof is in the pudding!